Another typical SG1 Christmas
by kristy1013
Summary: It's another typical Christmas for SG1.


**TITLE**: Another typical SG-1 Christmas  
**AUTHOR**: Kristy1013  
**PAIRING**: Sam/Jack  
**SPOILERS**: None  
**SEASON / SEQUEL**: Probably 7  
**EPISODE RELATED**: None  
**RATING**: G  
**CONTENT WARNINGS**: None  
**STATUS**: Complete  
**SUMMARY**: It's another typical Christmas for SG-1.

**DISCLAIMER**: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story was written and intended for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, plots and events created are the property of their respective author(s).

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: Much thanks to my beta reader Jenn for helping me to polish up the story. Please read and review, feedback is always welcome, thanks!

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Jack O'Neill felt as though his head weighed a ton, maybe even two. His eyes were screwed shut, and he felt as though he was being dangled upside down. He thought back to what he did last, fairly certain that he hadn't had too much to drink the night before. He couldn't even remember where on Earth he was. On Earth… His eyes instantly snapped open as it all came back in a rush. He was not on Earth but on a mission with SG-1 visiting the primitive planet designated P5C-450. O'Neill quickly surveyed his surroundings and saw that he was indeed hanging upside down and tied uncomfortably to some sort of pole. He glanced to either side of him and saw his teammates in a similar state of grogginess and confinement. As O'Neill shifted his weight, testing the strength of his bindings, he noticed that they were being carried by some very primitive-looking people that were speaking in a language he couldn't understand. He also noted that even though it was quite cold, the primitives were only wearing small thin coverings.

He didn't have much time to think about it, though, before he was lowered to the ground. Their binds were cut, and they all were dumped unceremoniously down a large hole in the ground. He heard a clanging as a large metal grate closed above them, and he stood, brushing moist dirt from his clothes.

"Everyone okay?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir," Carter said, nodding.

"I am also unharmed," added Teal'c

"I'm great. Thankfully I landed on soft dirt," Daniel chimed in a couple feet away.

O'Neill nodded and turned around to examine their surroundings. They were standing in a deep pit that looked to have been here for quite some time. Above their heads, the metal grate lay silent and appeared to have been secured firmly. The pit extended further back, making it almost like a cavern, and they appeared to be surrounded by slick clay-like dirt all around them with no visible means of getting up to the grate. Still, he thought, they might be able to dig around it and get themselves out.

As if on cue, Daniel said, "Hey check this out." He was pointing at a set of thick metal bars in the dirt that were a few feet apart and surrounding them completely.

So much for digging out, O'Neill thought. It wasn't really that good of a plan anyway.

Carter walked over to one of the bars and tugged on it, testing its strength. "Why would they go though all the trouble of putting these bars here? We have to be at least 10 feet down, and this dirt isn't normal dirt. It would probably take weeks to dig out of here."

O'Neill shrugged, glad he hadn't said anything about digging out just yet.

"What did you think of the indigenous people?" asked Daniel. "I mean they sure looked primitive enough."

"Whatever they shot us with definitely wasn't primitive," Carter reminded him.

"Yeah, what was that anyway?" asked O'Neill. "A zat maybe?"

"It was like no other Zat'nik'atel I have ever encountered, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "Its effects were much stronger and longer lasting. Perhaps a new modified weapon."

"Where would they even get a weapon like that? They seemed like they were straight out of the Mesozoic era," said Carter.

"Maybe they stole them off their past visitors. They'll probably be carrying our P-90's next time we seem them, providing they learn how to use them," Daniel said, a bit distracted. "You know, the language they were speaking was quite old and has probably been changed to meet their own needs, but I think I could understand a few words here and there." He was silent a few moments, obviously in deep thought, then said, "Feast, four, and festivity."

"Oh, so there's going to be a feast, is there?" asked O'Neill. "Wonder if we'll get invited. We always miss the feasts."

Daniel was thinking again, and everyone waited, knowing he was about to say something else. "What if we are the main course?" he finally asked. It sounded like he was asking about the obvious rather than just speculating.

O'Neill chuckled a little, Carter looked a bit concerned, and Teal'c characteristically raised an eyebrow.

"I think they may have said something about 'new visitors' and 'sacrificial supper'. What little I could see of their body markings and adornments…" Daniel trailed off. He turned and looked up at the grate. "I think they're cannibals."

"Cannibals you say? Well at least we'll definitely get invited to the feast this time," O'Neill quipped.

Daniel muttered something.

"Hmm?" inquired O'Neill, not quite hearing him.

"What?" said Daniel.

Both shook their heads and went back to examining the cavern. Carter chuckled a bit and turned to Teal'c who was amused as well.

Night had begun to fall and along with it the temperature. "Hey, if we had some snow and a lake, it'd be like Minnesota," O'Neill piped up cheerfully. Again, as if on cue, snow began lightly falling through the grate.

"Surely they won't leave us down here to freeze," Daniel said.

"What, you in a hurry to get to the feast, are you? I think I'll take my chances with the cold," O'Neill answered.

They all moved back against the farthest wall out of the way of the falling snow. "It doesn't look like we'll be back in time for Christmas," Carter said.

"See, there's another party we're missing out on. Why does that always happen?" said O'Neill.

SG-1 had one last scheduled mission before being able to celebrate Christmas festivities. It was supposed to be nothing more than a routine meet and greet, and by this time, they would have all been sitting in O'Neill's warm, comfortable living room sipping hot drinks and celebrating the holiday.

They usually attempted to get together each year, though it seemed in recent years it had either been cancelled or delayed due to some unpredicted emergency. They had already pushed the party back twice, thinking the third time was surely going to be the charm. They had all been looking forward to it, even O'Neill, who graciously volunteered to host it this year.

"Hey look on the bright side – we're at least spending Christmas together," Carter said interrupting O'Neill's thoughts. "It could be worse, you know."

"Yeah, we could be split up somewhere now or someone could be stuck alone back at the SGC," Daniel said.

"You mean the warm, dry, and relatively safe SGC?" O'Neill asked Daniel.

"Yep that's the one," he answered back.

O'Neill grunted and sat down along the back wall. Carter sat down next to him with Daniel to her right and Teal'c on Daniel's other side.

"Oh hey, I almost forgot!" Daniel exclaimed as he rummaged around inside his pockets. He produced a single chocolate bar that seemed to gleam like a shining star.

"Sweet, I'm starved," said O'Neill, taking half the candy bar from Daniel. He broke it in two as Daniel did the same to the other half. The candy was hard and didn't quite break evenly; he passed the largest chunk to Carter as he chewed his own portion.

"Daniel, have you been holding out on us in the candy department?" Carter asked.

"Well I've learned to have a stash for just such an occasion as this, though I guess it wouldn't really matter if we're going to be eaten tomorrow," he replied.

"What makes you think the 'big feast' is going to be tomorrow?" asked O'Neill.

"Well it is Christmas…at least on Earth, and it just seemed, I dunno, fitting for us," Daniel said.

"Right. Well, you just keep thinking like that. Me, on the other hand, I'm going to think about all the Christmas ham I'm going to be eating after we escape. Oh, and cake, gotta have cake," O'Neill said matter-of-factly.

They all fell into silence and moved a little closer to each other to keep warm. O'Neill was fully aware of his closeness to his 2IC next to him. Under other circumstances, he would probably enjoy this much more, but thoughts of escape plans and being the main course for a bunch of leaf-wearers dampened his thoughts slightly. Nevertheless, he noticed right away when she leaned slightly in his direction. He looked down to see her and Daniel as well very near falling asleep. Teal'c was looking around the room making sure nothing was out of the ordinary for a muddy cavern on a strange planet.

O'Neill silently signaled to Teal'c that he would take first watch. Teal'c nodded, closed his eyes, and settled down into the traditional Kelnorim position. Even though the Jaffa technically didn't have to Kelnorim anymore because of the Tretonin, he had once said that he still did it on occasion as it was calming for the mind.

It was now almost totally dark around them except for the small sliver of moonlight that shone through the grate. The snow was falling a bit harder now and looked almost serene against the moonlight.

O'Neill looked down at Carter again and saw her eyes closed and her breathing even, but he knew she wasn't completely asleep. None of them with the exception of Daniel, who could sleep through a nuclear explosion, ever truly slept a deep sleep while off-world.

"Hey Carter, you awake?" O'Neill whispered.

Carter's eyes flung open in an instant. "What, what's wrong, Sir?" she asked sitting up searching the room.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong," O'Neill assured her. "I was just wondering if you were awake is all."

"Well I am now for sure," she said dryly, sparing a glance over at him. She noticed she had been sort of leaning over on him; she froze as she thought about this for a moment, but she chided herself for thinking about such silly things and leaned back where she was. It was very cold out here tonight, after all.

"So…" O'Neill broke her reverie. "What'd ya get me for Christmas?" he asked.

"It wouldn't be much a surprise if I told you, now would it? Guess you'll just have to wait to find out," she answered, amused.

"You really got me something, even though we said we all weren't doing that this year?" he asked softly.

"Well yes, of course," she replied a bit too quickly.

"Good 'cause I got you something, too," he blurted.

They sat in silence for a few moments pondering the truths that neither of them could admit. O'Neill glanced down at his watching illuminating it to see that it was just past midnight. "Hey," he said as he nudged Carter with his elbow, "it's after midnight, so technically it's Christmas already. Feel free to enlighten me in the gift department anytime now." He beamed at her.

Carter shot him one of those million dollar smiles that he liked to think she always reserved for him. "Earth time, Sir," she said.

"But on my watch it is Earth time," he said, holding it up for her to see.

"But we're not on Earth, so it doesn't count," Carter retorted.

"Fine, fine, you don't want to tell me now. I guess it'll just give me one more thing to look forward to when we get back," he said. It was sad that he was defeated in his own game.

"Yeah about that, Sir -" Carter started.

"Ahh!" O'Neill interrupted. "It's Christmas, Carter, and we'll get out of here, trust me."

"Always," she answered softly.

Their eyes found each other, locked into place and something unseen passed between them. They sat like that for a moment until O'Neill motioned with his arm. "Come here. It really is very cold, you know." He stretched so that she could lean more into him. She didn't hesitate, settling herself into his warm embrace.

"What about Daniel and Teal'c?" she asked.

"Hey, that's their problem," he answered as she smiled into his shoulder. Soon, however, her eyes closed once again and her breathing evened out.

They sat like that for a while, and soon O'Neill's eyes drooped closed. He snapped them open at once, wondering what was wrong with him. He never let himself become this tired during a watch. It was probably lingering effects from the Not-Zat gun, he told himself. It could also be the fact that he was sitting on the hard, cold ground probably hours away from being feasted upon by crazy caveman. He was sure it had nothing to do with the resting Carter snuggled up against him, though he really couldn't think of anywhere else he would rather be at the moment.

O'Neill looked over and noticed Teal'c was no longer Kelnoriming but was looking up at the grate with interest. Teal'c nodded and signaled back to him that he would take watch from this point on. O'Neill leaned his head back against the dirt wall and shut his eyes.

The cavern was silent except for the occasional soft rustling of the trees above them. Carter awoke suddenly and wondered why she was on the ground and pressed into another warm body. Then she remembered that she had fallen asleep on the Colonel's shoulder, though it seemed she had slipped down onto his chest while she slept. She felt his warm breath on the back of her neck and worried for a moment that they were crossing that invisible line separating both of them, but she was just too warm, comfortable, and enjoying it too much to make a move. She felt frozen to where her body touched the ground and didn't think she could move even if she wanted to, which she did not. She shifted a bit and felt his arm tighten around her; she smiled to herself and closed her eyes again.

Sometime later, both Carter and O'Neill opened their eyes almost simultaneously at the sound of leaves being crunched underfoot. They sat up, straining to hear what was going on above them.

"SG-1, are you down there?" whispered a voice from above. O'Neill and Carter separated, both instantly missing the contact. They moved to stand under the grate.

"Colonel Martin, is that you?" O'Neill squinted up at the man standing above them.

"Yep, and the rest of SG-3 in all their glory. You guys okay?" Martin asked.

"Yeah we're all great, just peachy down here," O'Neill quipped as Teal'c and Daniel joined them under the grate. Soon the grate was off and a rope was thrown down to them. Once they all had climbed up and out of the hole, he noticed SG-3 was standing guard.

"What about the natives?" asked Carter, taking Martin's offered reserve weapon.

"We don't think they'll be much a problem for now," he replied. "Before coming through the gate, we sent a UAV spotting them lurking in the forest. We tossed a Shock Grenade through and the few that remained took off into the forest at a dead run. It wasn't hard finding you guys; there was a well-traveled path from the gate leading right here. Looks like they sure like their visitors."

"They had some sort of energy weapon. They shot us with it right when we came through the gate," Carter said.

"Yeah, SG-11 back at the gate collected a few of them from the area to take back to study. It looks like some sort of modified Zat Gun, but we've never seen anything like it before."

"Okay kids, we better get moving before the natives get restless again," O'Neill said.

Martin nodded and turned to speak into his radio. "SG-11, we've got SG-1 and are heading back to your position. Hold the door for us."

"Yes, Sir!" answered the voice on the other end.

They set off back through the forest and finally emerged from the trees into a small clearing where the gate stood waiting for them.

"So, we still going to have the party?" asked Daniel falling into step with O'Neill and Carter.

"You bet," answered O'Neill. "Wouldn't miss it. Besides, we've got presents to open!" he grinned at Carter who returned a grin of her own. The familiar whoosh of the gate filled the air and O'Neill thought that this might have just been another typical Christmas for SG-1, but he wouldn't have changed it for the world.

-fin-

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End file.
